The complicated Marlon Samuels

Let me admit that I almost died laughing when I saw Marlon Samuels' extravagant salute that accompanied Ben Stokes on his way to the pavilion. It was funny and I am sympathetic to those who say he should not be punished. But it was wrong just the same, as all send-offs are wrong. You admired it the way one grudgingly admires the work of a mischievous little rascal you wouldn't recommend it, but the level of amusement is undeniable.

I agree somewhat with those who say send-offs are cowardly acts. They are cowardly because the batsman can really have no response; he is out and has to go. The bowler and fielders have nothing to fear from the batsman just dismissed, at least for that innings. And so that kind of churlish conduct is the behaviour of the big schoolyard bully who knows there will be no response from the little guy he is picking on. I don't mind the conversations on the field, so long as they are not in bad taste, but the batsman's dismissal should be the end of the discussions.

Samuels has never been one to recoil from any on-field skirmish. Pushed into the lion's den aged 19 when he joined the 2000-01 tour of Australia, he had to fight on cricket's toughest battlefield. Led by the snarling Glenn McGrath, Australia's bowling attack regularly ran roughshod over almost every batting unit that engaged them on the Australian front. And with West Indies' glory days gone by then, the Caribbean challengers, despite the presence of the mercurial Brian Lara, were not expected to fare all that well.

Samuels would have had some inkling of the peril that laid in wait. About four years earlier, his elder brother Robert was himself forced to negotiate the hostile environment maintained by Mark Taylor' men when he opened the innings in four tests of the West Indies' 1996-97 five-Test tour. His 76 in Perth, batting for 332 minutes and facing 228 deliveries, was a significant triumph under the circumstances, but the left-hander reported that so crude was the babble in the middle that he sometimes wondered if the Australians were lecturing him on some topic having to do with sex.

But, if Robert was calm and diffident in the face of provocation, the younger Samuels was composed, confident, combative. He courteously replied to whatever chatter the Australians hurled in his direction and played his strokes with the fluency and poise that suggested a player more experienced, more accomplished than a teenager on his first tour with only a handful of first-class games to his name.

During the second Test of the current England series, Samuels put together a fighting 103 in fairly difficult batting conditions to lead West Indies to a respectable first-innings 299. It took Samuels all of 21 deliveries to score his first run and when he had faced 50 balls he was only 11. But, the normally free-scoring batsman seemed unperturbed by the pedestrian nature of his progress. He had needlessly donated his wicket in the second innings of the first test when his side was striving to save the game and now seemed intent on making up for that indiscretion. There were points when he upped the scoring rate. On the whole, however, his innings was marked by watchfulness and restraint.

Throughout, Samuels had a running battle with Stokes, probably the quickest of the England bowlers and certainly the most willing to blast a word in the batsman's ear. At no point was run scoring straightforward and one got the feeling that no matter how long a batsman was at the crease there was always danger lurking in the form of a big seaming or swinging or spinning delivery. Indeed, Samuels was fortunate to survive when on 32, Alastair Cook, fielding at first slip, floored his lacklustre waft at a wide delivery he ordinarily would have allowed to go by.

But when the batsman reached his century, he seemed to cast all vigilance aside. Aiming big drives to the next two deliveries after he guided James Anderson past gully to bring up his milestone, he edged the second through to the wicketkeeper. In spite of the big score he made it was a gifted wicket. Apparently the century brought relief to the resoluteness he had displayed; it was as if he felt he could now return to the kind of carelessness he had been accused of during much of his career.

Undefeated on 94 at stumps on the first day, Samuels was asked if he thought Stokes' utterances were counter-productive. "It depends on how the morning goes," he said. "Marlon Samuels 150, Ben Stokes with the ball in his hand. It will be very interesting."

The statement indicates that Samuels planned to take full toll on Stokes - he wanted to teach him a lesson, but sought the relative safety of a big score before attempting to do so. Call me petty, but the duty of the batsman is to score as many runs as he can to place his team in as good a position as possible, and there really is no place for settling personal scuffles. The batsman who scores 150 has done a lot, but his team could still require more.

Samuels was West Indies' best batsman on their 2014-15 tour to South Africa. In three Tests he averaged 53.1 with one century and one half-century; good numbers against a top-flight bowling attack. And yet he could have done even better had he been more determined to place a higher price on his wicket.

In the second innings of the third Test, for instance, he perished trying to hit offspinner Simon Harmer into the stands for a third time. West Indies were, at the time, striving to set their opponents a reasonable score to chase and Samuels, despite being in no trouble against Harmer, had already benefitted from a few near-misses. Still, he chose to chance his arm with his side in a precarious position. His dismissal for 74 prompted a collapse and South Africa comfortably chased 124 for an easy win. If he had stayed a while longer, as West Indies coach Stuart Williams indicated, things could have turned out differently.

The stylish right-hander has had that kind of career. He can look like one of the best batsmen in the world one day, and like a rookie out of his depth the next. In one innings he will bat like a frugal ascetic, leaving buckets of balls as he likes to say, shunning all risk. The next will see him play like a profligate millionaire, attempting his full repertoire every over. Over the years, his record has been quite befuddling to anyone who witnessed him bat for 10 minutes, and very frustrating to West Indies fans patiently waiting for him to fulfil potential that was evident from when he was a schoolboy.

The last Caribbean batsman to trigger so much exasperation was Carl Hooper. In a way, Hooper is the Jamaican's spiritual father, and Samuels was known to appreciate his former captain's methods if not his level of production. Both were bequeathed the gift of movement that cricket watchers drool over; and both, for much of their careers, dealt in the kind of detached performances that made fans wistfully shake their heads.

With Shivnarine Chanderpaul now nearing the end of his days as a West Indies batsman, Samuels must pay attention to his level of application and now assume the role of senior-most player in a rebuilding side. He has to take up the mantle as mentor to the younger players, and make himself worthy of emulation. It will make his career that much more meaningful.